Here is a quick and easy dish that uses some of our spring ramp bounty along with another great spring vegetable that is not so quick and easy to begin with – see the fava bean post.  I woulda – if we’d found any – used morels but we weren’t so lucky on the wood walk so just used the button mushrooms I had on hand.  Steve ate two big bowls of this and was hoping for left-overs for lunch – didn’t happen!

½ cup finely diced pancetta

1 cup chopped ramps, white part only

About 8 button mushrooms, cleaned, stemmed, and sliced

1 cup vegetable stock

About 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 cup fresh fava beans, blanched and peeled

½ cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

2 big handfuls of ramp greens, cut into julienne

About ½ box spaghetti or other dried pasta, cooked al dente according to package

directions

Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano to taste

Place the pancetta in a large nonstick frying pan over medium low heat.  Fry, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes or until crisp and all of the fat has been rendered out.  Add the ramps and sauté for a couple of minutes.  Stir in the mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until the mushrooms begin to brown.  Add the stock and thyme and continue to cook for another 5 minutes or until the liquid has begun to evaporate a bit.

Stir in the fava beans, followed by the cream.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Toss in the ramp greens.

Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to blend.  Serve immediately with a good sprinkling of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.